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' G. O; PALMER. 1

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

No 281,550. Patented July 17, 1883.

INVENTOR di a flaw ATTORNEYS N PETERS, mwm mr, wm m. a c

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OASSIUS o. PALMER, or OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 281,550, dated July 17, 1883.

Application filed February 15, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CASSIUS O. PALMER, of Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in SafetyDevices for Elevators, of which the following is a specification.

In the devices heretofore used the class of accidents provided for and intended to be prevented are generally those which result from the breaking of the main hoisting-rope, and as long as any tension is maintained on the hoisting-rope the safety device does not come into action. If, now, any portion of the hoisting-gear, other than the main hoistingrope should give way-as, for instance, a valve or cylinder in either the steam or hydraulic apparatusesthe elevator car or platform will either fall or be allowed to descend with a rapidity which would be extremely dangerous, for the hoisting-rope being unbroken, and its hauling end being still attached to some parts of the hoisting apparatus, there will in most cases with this class of safety devices be sufficient tension on the hoisting-rope to prevent the catches coming into action. Another class of safety devices brought into action by the increased speed of the elevator car or platform, and which are controlled by the action of a governor. In one variety of this class of devices the governor is placed at the top of the elevator-shaft and actuates the valves or brakes on the hoisting machinery. In another variety of this class the gripping devices or clutches are brought into action by a governor or similar apparatus fixed on the elevator-car. In still another variety there is an independent endless cable running idly over pulleys, and connected with the ordinary safety lockingapparatus,which cable is operated by the action of the governor clamping and holding the cable, thus bringing into action the locking mechanism. In all the above classes of safety devices the apparatus is entirely automatic in its action, and if from any cause it fails to act of itself when the car begins to descend with .too great rapidity the occupants of the car have nomeans of bringingtlie safety apparatus into action or to control the descent of the car.

Ihave already shown and described an improved safety device for elevators in the patent granted me July 11, 1882, No. 261,101, and the object of my present invention is to provide a consists of those which are means of operating the my former patent under and to enable persons Withto bring the said device into shows my improved mechanism for operating my safety device. Fig. II is a general view of an elevator-car with my safety device, and showing thecmeans by which a person in the car can bring the safety device into action.

In Fig. II, 0 is the f'rameplatform' beneath the car A, which carries the gripping devices, as described in my patent referred to above. The rods 12 b connect the frame or platform 0 with the supplementary cross-head B above, to which the independent counterbalance-rope X is attached.

In any convenient position on the top of the elevator-car I place a lever, K, which is carried by and turns on a fulcrum, N. One end of this lever I connect either by forming afork in the end of the le ver K, which engages the cross-head B, as shown, or byany other suitable connection. To the other end of the lever K, I attach a rod or cord, H, which the elevator. If for any reason a person in the cardesires to bring the safety-clutches into action when they would not be operated automatically, he can do so by drawing down the rod H, and so by the action of the lever K lifting the cross-head B, and with it the platform C, a short distance, when the clutches will come into contact with the bottom of the car, and thus be forced against the guides M of the elevator, as fully shown and described in my previous patent. As the clutch-frame G and the parts connected with it are counterbalanced by a weight which very nearly equals them, a very slight amount of force is sufficient to raise the clutches into contact with the car, as above described, and when once they are so brought into contact the weight of the car will complete the operation of forcing the clutches against the guides M and holding them there firmly.

' The main hoisting-rope Y of the elevator and the independent counterbalance-rope X of the safety-frame preferably pass over separate grooves on the face of the same sheave or pulley S placed over the elevator-well, and from therev I prefer to carrythe hoisting-rope directly to the hoisting machinery. A short with the cross-head B,

distance from the face of the sheave, and on the hauling side of the sheave, I place a ball or centrifugal governor, G,which may be regulated to allow the elevator to descend at any desired speed, and over a grooved pulley, I, connected to the governor, I pass the independent counterbalance-rope X as it comes from the sheave S. The governor being placed a short distance from the face of the sheave S, the counterweight-rope X in passing over the pulley P is carried out of the perpendicular, and rests with considerable weight on the face of the pulley I of the governor, thus causing sufficient friction to revolve the governor G as the rope X passes over the pulley P in its upward and downward movements. At the opposite side of the axis of the sheave S from the governor G, I place a lever arm, V, having at one end a heavy weight, W. At its other end the lever V turns on a fulcrum placed perpendicularly below the outermost point on the periphery of the sheave S. On the fulcrum end of this lever V, I fix a block of iron or other suitable material, F, and through this block I cut a hole in such a position that when the lever V is placed as shown at IV in Fig. I the counterbalance-rope X may pass freely through the hole perpendicularly as it comes from the sheave S.

To the weight W, I attach one end of a light rod, R. The other end of the rod Rhas ahole formed in it, through which is passed a pin, L, connected with the governor G, which supports the lever V and the weight W in the position shown at N in Fig. I.

The manner in which this portion of my invention operates is as follows: The lever V, with the weight W, is raised to the position shown in the full lines in Fig. I, and the pin L is put through the hole in the end of the rod It, which thus supports the weight W in its elevated position. If, now, any portion of the hoisting machinery or the hoisting-rope gives way, so as to allow the elevator-car to descend with greater rapidity than is desired, the increased speed of the counterbalance-rope X will cause the governor G to revolve more rapidly, .and the balls of the governor, assuming a higher position, will act upon the pin L, and, withdrawing it from the hole in the end of the rod It, thus allow the weight W and lever V to fall to the position shown at NV and V in Fig. I. The lever V, revolving on its fulcrum, as it falls, turns the block F to a position nearly at right angles to that it occupied before, and in so doing makes two sharp bends in the rope X, which passes through it, as shown in the dotted lines, and, tightly jamming the rope, holds it fast, thus preventing any further descent of the safety-frame C. The car at once comes in contact with the safety-clutches and throws them out against the guides M. The action of the governor and the falling weight W are almost instantaneous, and the elevator-car is brought to rest at 01100 upon the failure of any portion of the hoisteither in the machinery or hoisting-rope, or also when the car descends too rapidly from overloading, even when no portion of the hoisting-gear gives way.

I do not confine myself to the use of the ordinary ball-governor, as shown in the drawings, but can use any form of quick-acting governor. Neither do I confine myself to the manner of supporting the weight W by the pin L, as shown in the drawings, but any suitable form of latch or catch may be used.

It is obvious that the governor may be actuated by the main hoisting-rope Y, if it is so desired, and also that the governor may be actuated by one rope and the lever V and weight W act on the other rope; but I prefer the arrangement shown in the drawings as the one best adapted to prevent accidents.

Other mechanism may be employed in place of the block F, to be governed by the speed of the elevator, so as to arrest the motion of the rope X when the downward speed of the elevator increases beyond a certain point. I therefore do not limit myself to the particular mechanism shown.

Instead of the frame 0, sustained by the auxiliary rope Y, it might be sustained by mechanism connected with the elevator-car, and the speed detector or governor should ing apparatus then be located on the elevator-car, so as to be actuated in accordance with the speed of the car by a stationary rope or other device. In this case the weight W and leverarm V would also be located on the car, and in place of the block F an arm would be provided, which, when the weight W was allowed to fall, would engage with the frame 0 and lift the same until the gripping devices were thrown into operation by contact with the car, as before described. This modification, however, I deem to be inferior to that primarily described.

Vhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of an elevator-car and a frame, 0, arranged beneath it, and adapted to move vertically either with or independently of said car, with a governor and intermediate mechanism, substantially as described, constructed to hold said frame stationary until the car has descended and operated the locking mechanism, substantially as described.

2. In combination with the elevator-car, the supplementary frame 0, carrying the locking mechanism, a governor for controlling its descent, and the rod or cord H, connected with said supplementary frame, substantially as described, whereby the same lockingmechanism may be thrown into action either automatically or by the act of the operator, as set forth.

OASSIUS c. PALMER.

W'itnesses:

W. F. HAreooD, DANIEL H. DRISCOLL. 

